Senators become Canada’s only hope for Stanley Cup

With the Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks all losing in the first round of the playoffs, the Ottawa Senators have become Canada’s team.

No Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since the Canadiens in 1993 and the Senators are now the country’s only hope this year.

Our latest HIO poll asks which Eastern Conference team would you most like to see in the Stanley Cup final, and as of noon Wednesday 50 per cent had voted for the Pittsburgh Penguins, followed by the Senators (24 per cent), New York Rangers (22 per cent) and Boston Bruins (4 per cent).

The Senators were beaten 4-1 by the Penguins in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

“It’s them and Chicago, they’ve been the two best teams in the whole league this season,” Senators defenceman Erik Karlsson told reporters after the game, while not ruling out his team’s chances against the Penguins. “Even though we’re not the best team on the ice all the time, we’re still finding ways to win.”

You can get the latest news on the Senators from the Ottawa Citizen’s version of Hockey Inside/Out, Senators Extra. Check it out by clicking here.

241 Comments

Who in this country “hopes” a Canadian wins the cup? I hate this notion that we all want Canadian teams to win. It’s so goddamn ridiculous. I would never cheer for the Leafs if they were the last team left. And all these years of TSN and CBC saying this garbage has made me always cheer against Canadians teams to win. I hate all Canadian teams pretty much because of this. I was glad when Edm, Ott, and, yes, even Van lost the cup. If a Canadian is ever going to win the cup again it’s going to be the Habs!!!

As long as Bettman is the commissioner no Canadian team will win the cup…ever. It’s bad for ratings and the bottom line. I’ll be damned if I’m going to root for the Sens I hate them. Rooting for any team except the Sens and Bruins.

Since retromikey down below has been busy calling out others I figure I would do the same to him,again.

Retromikey on Monday night:lets go leafs I only cheer for Canadian teams
Retromikey last night:lets go sens I only cheer for Canadian teams
Retromikey 2011 playoff finals bruins vs canucks: go bruins they have more Canadian players.

Pardon my ignorance about what undoubtedly has been discussed before, but I’m already into thinking about the 2013 draft. My question: does the Canadians draft number change in the first round because they lost early? And are Nashville’s and Calgary’s picks set for the second round? It’d be nice to look at the mock drafts that go beyond 16 at this time and dream positive thoughts. Thanks.

Habs pick number awaits Stanley Cup winner. If Pittsburgh or Chicago wins it will be 27th but dropping to 26th if another team. Calgary & Nashvilles picks are set. UCe found a 7 round mock draft a couple of days past and linked it.

@habfan10912. Now you’re talking amigo! Did a road trip down to Watertown last year with a few of the Lads.It got a litlle crazy. Don’t think we would be welcome back for a bit. Syracuse might work though. Saludos!!!

Petri Kontiola is currently 2nd in scoring at the world championships (1 point behind Kovalchuk, one point ahead of Stamkos…pretty good company). He’s a 6’0″, 200 pound winger currently playing for Traktor in the KHL, where he led his team in scoring and dramatically out-produced teammate Andrei Kostitysn while playing on the top line with Evgeni Kuznetsov and Jan Bulis. He’s 28 years old, so what you see is what you get.

With such limited pickings in the UFA market, maybe its a good year to pull a Detroit and look overseas for non-NHL talent.

Based on http://www.hockeydb.com and players who have played in a game for their respective teams thus far into NHL Playoffs, teams with Canadian born players are as follows:
Bruins – 15
Senators – 14
Kings – 14
Sharks – 14
Penguins – 14
Rangers – 12
RedWings – 8
Blackhawks – 8

It’s not about what Cherry does outside of HNIC, it’s what he does in his position that is a problem.

This is some guy in a position of supposed authority who is supposed to be a role model for kids and Canadians, yet he acts like a clown and his views are setting hockey back. He is pro fighting and wears the tin foil hat when it comes to questionable hits and concussions. By propagating those views on national tv he is influencing young fans and players even though hockey at those levels is moving away from the foolish overly physical model.

On top of that, he attacks the character of players and makes the stereotype that Europeans are soft and good Canadian kids can do no wrong even if they crosscheck someone in the face.

Those views and that conduct is pretty unCanadian and it is a sham that CBC thinks it is ok for him to say such things when the hockey world is moving away from those views.

Paul Maurice had an interesting take on the KHL and Russian players after coaching one year there, how it’s not easy to adapt to a different league and country, and how these guys are all dedicated and work so hard and they all love hockey.

“I became a fan of the bigger ice surface and began wondering if you took it (to North America) and left it in place for a while, what our game would look like, because I think eventually, it’d be incredible. I became a fan of the no-touch icing too, and a lot of little things like that, that are part of the style of hockey there. But probably the biggest thing I walked away with is a blanket apology to every Russian player I ever coached. When they come to Canada and play the way they do, there’s a reason for it. Things sometimes get said about them, like they’re not tough, but I can tell you there are tough players over there. They just play the game so differently. We expect them to make adjustments in a couple of weeks when they get here, you want them to tip the puck in and chase it, adn you want them to do this and go there, and then you think they don’t want to play your game. It’s not like that at all, and you’d have to be there to see where they come from and the culture and the hockey. So a blanket apology … I have a better understanding of their world, how they train, how they play, and why they play the way they do.“

To be honest, Paul Maurice is one guy that I would be happy to see coaching in Montreal some day. I know a lot of people aren’t too high on him, but I think he’s one of the more open-minded coaches out there.

I realize I’m responding WAY late to this post, but Un Canadien Errant’s quote from Maurice made me think of Dryden’s famous book _The Game_. In it (second half of the book), Dryden talks about how, after 1972, the Russian hockey program HAD to change from “team” play, zig-zag passing, north-south style in order to compete with the North American physical style: the Russians learned from losing that you can’t simply go with the same game-plan; they became more physical, and the NA game wanted to break up “dump and chase” style in order to add more offense.

By the time we have Cherry yapping on about “soft” Europeans in the 1980s (and it hasn’t stopped, of course), the NHL game has become a hybrid of physical and offensive style; it’s just damn silly to associate one particular style with a particular country: ALL coaches know (as Dryden says) that the “game” needs to constantly adapt to another team.

And as far as Montreal being too small (comments from another thread), I think most commentators miss the point: it depends on how “big” your game is; Ryan O’Bryne was a big guy who played soft (and we all know how that turned out), while Gally’s a small gu who plays like the “Giant” he was in Vancouver.

By my reckoning, that means that the Habs have committed $56.25 M of the $64 M salary cap. I should put an asterisk on that noting that Emelin will not be in the opening day lineup, but they probably run with Tinordi while they wait for Emelin to come back.

This leaves just under $8 M to sign a top-6 RW and a fourth line centre, plus the two depth forwards. One of those could go to Dumont or Leblanc, but I can’t see the team being happy with either guy sitting in the stands. If the fourth line centre is White, he’d only take up about $0.8M of that space, leaving quite a bit.

There’s probably a bit more in the buffer due to bonuses and such, but teams generally leave $1.5-2.5M, so that space is largely irrelevant to what they can spend. The cap space isn’t a huge concern, but any major overhauls will certainly require trades.

And trades pretty much need to include one of the big contracts (Plekanec, Markov, Gorges, Gionta) going the other way for the impact player. I don’t see that happening, given the age of the players involved, unless there are some prospects going the other way.

Markov would bring a nice return, but only from a team bolstering for a Stanley Cup run. Ditto for Gionta. Those types of teams are going to be loathe to part with roster players, preferring to deal picks or prospects. The point is to get stronger, not make a largely lateral move.

So budgeting a cap 1M cushion, that leaves about 4M to sign a RW. Or, 2M for a RW and 2M for another Dman if that’s the way MB wants to go.

I can’t see the point of signing any long term deals for 4M. Not that much out there (aside from the Clarkson daydream). I won’t be surprised if the Habs go with a few kids as well as spare parts like they did with Armstrong and Bouillon this year.

Agreed. Alternatively, they’ve got to make some trades, and that opens up all sorts of avenues.

But then it becomes very questionable about who fits in Bergevin’s plan and who doesn’t.

I think he was pretty clearly a Gallagher supporter. Galchenyuk is obviously his guy. And Bergevin signed Desharnais and Pacioretty, and wouldn’t go near trading Subban. Price is almost certainly off-limits as well.

After that, who knows? It will be an interesting summer! I’m expecting more moves before July 1st then I expect we’ll see afterwards.

I see the experienced but expensive players on the Canadiens’ roster coming into play nearer the trade deadline, when teams are trying to gear up for a playoff push. If the Canadiens are in it as well, then we might see a ‘lateral’ move, in that we pick up the same from another team, but maybe one that fits our needs better. Say, a team needs scoring depth and picks up Brian Gionta, and we pick up a tougher #5 D-man from them. So both teams picking up salary and a piece that they need. A team stricken with injuries on its D-corps swallows hard and adds Josh Gorges, but we take one of their headaches in return.

If the Canadiens are out, then we’d see a fire sale, and these expiring contracts would be converted into assets, meager may they be.

Otherwise, we’re selling what pretty much every other team is not looking for. We have speed, skill, experience, big contracts, the league wants size, toughness, youth, cheap. All team are looking for the same thing, and are trying to flog what we’re flogging. So I expect Marc Bergevin to try to add a cheaper piece or two from the UFA pool, like he did with Brandon Prust, but otherwise stand pat and keep accumulating and developing picks and prospects.

Ufas are a gamble. There are 2reasons these players are available: they are cashing out or thrown out. Any player worth the money is almost always resigned before getting to Ufa status.
DD won the lottery because the Ufa pool this year sucks for 2nd line centers. Better to dance with 5’6″ devil you know…
Tough choices lay ahead. I suspect that Gionta is on the block although he is so injury prone, he will get very little in return.
Ultimately, draft smart and you don’t need has beens from other teams. Overachieving this year didn’t help the rebuild. Obviously the farm team is thin on talent when halpern was the best substitution we had for the playoffs. The future is bright though with Gallagher, chucky and tinordi.

Steve, believe we finished 4th overall so drafting 27th with potential to drop to 26th if Cup won by any team other then Chicago or Pittsburgh. Also the NJ draft forfeit may occur but would be surprised with them missing the play-offs.

Ovechkin’s comment about the refs rigging game 6 so a money making/headline selling game 7 would happened makes me think that the type of Colin Campbell email scandal back in 2010 was still happening somewhere between the league’s executive and the officials, although maybe in a more subtle way.

Think of the improbability of Zibanejad’s kick in goal being ruled legit had it been a 0-0 game. The league wanted a comeback in that game, as much as the league wanted a game 7 between the Caps and the Rangers. And they did them not out of favoritism, but purely to extend a series in anyway to generate more revenue.

I absolutely agree that it wouldn’t have counted if the game had been tied, but I think it was more a question of letting the home team get on the scoreboard to make the end of that game more interesting.

Biter, agree that next summer PK is a prime candidate for an offer sheet. He’s a sure thing and a club with the cap space would not be afraid to give away a few draft picks for the best all around Dman in the NHL, especially at his age.

Bergevin will doubtless extend him before that happens with a very rich contract.

Bryzgalov did say the reason he didn’t want to play in WInnipeg is cause there is not enough parks (Megasized assiniboine park?) But lets be honest the real reason he is afraid of Winnipeg is because BEAR is at the zoo there.

Sports Illustrated list of US top 50 highest paid athletes. Full of baseball and basketball players but a boxer tops the list. I was shocked that no HIO posters made the list. I guess they don’t consider HIO posters as athletes.

Cherry being Coach of the Year was the biggest Joke ever! He was dropped into a Stacked team of Hall of Famers. A monkey could have stood behind that bench! He was fired from the Bruins and then Fired from the Colorado Rockies for chrissakes! He is an Entertainer or as the Lads on the Midget Team I coached would say, He”s a Clown.I enjoy his show however. Saludos!

Like my friend Andrew I’ll try to stir the pot. A lot of talk about cap room for this team moving forward. Would I be crazy in thinking that Markov would be the easiest of our top dollar players to move? And call me even crazier, maybe that makes sense at this time if we can get decent value in return.
I’m going to hide for cover now.

I think moving Markov in trade and Kaberle in trade would be great moves.
We all know Kaberle is not going to play in Montreal ever again.
Markov was great in the early part of the season, but visibly tired and relatively ineffective at the end of the shortened season.
I think trade him now and move on with youth and a bigger free agent D with a mean streak.

Realistically I think we have Markov until next years trade deadline.
I can’t see MB re-upping hom at his salary under the new cap since he will be paying big $$ for Subban and he has stated the future is with youth.
Next season will be Markovs last in Montreal.

And MB better start sweet talking Subban soon as if talks are not finished before the season starts, I fear He will test free agency even as a RFA and will draw many shekels and we’ll see if the Habs will match any offers.

I do not think taking cover is necessary. I like Markov, always have. Many would like to see him retire as a hab, I would not mind seeing that as well. He may be able to bring back a decent return, moving his salary off the cap would give MB some breathing room. Unless you feel he would be a crucial part of a cup run next year(if you feel we are contender), getting something for him before he becomes a UFA does not seem crazy to me at all.

I still think he will be a huge asset on the Habs next year as well. I just dont think he should be logging 20+ minutes every night.

Anyone hear Bryzgalov’s lasted statement – he basically said he doesn’t like the city of Philadelphia. Unreal. Talk about a guy who is begging for a buyout. He just wants out. Can’t believe he went there. If they don’t buy him out he is getting booed every game. You never, ever put down the City you play for.

I am surprised no mention of Don Cherry’s comments as it relates to him describing Alfredsson as the Braided one, and he then went on to pick out 3 European players on the Senators as the problem last night and that Chris Neil was the best player on the ice for the Sens last night, according to our favourite crotchety old senile Grandpa.

As usual, Cherry’s comments are well-founded and guaranteed to piss off those who aspire to be more insightful than he, this while holding his age and his common vulgarity against him. That said, I despise the idiots from T.O. who use him to justify dumb thuggery almost as much as the lazy liberals who continue to use him as the emblem for what is wrong with hockey and the nation.

So you agree at the inference that Alfredsson was not taking the playoffs seriously by having a hairband in his hair during warmup? Don’t get me wrong, I dislike the senators, and have to partiality no Alfredsson, but to say he doesn’t care about playoffs because of possibly bothering Cherry’s homophobic side seems a bit of a stretch.

Yah the inference you are making to a clown and what Cherry was saying with his innuendo is so similar.

My goodness, you really do represent the hard line right well.

I can’t stand Alfredsson, but Cherry was complete bush league in his attack and so was his sidekick clown Maclean. But hey its okay to make fun of the segment he was picking on, cuz its good ol canadian hockey, understand you loud and clear now Thomas.

There’s no use in arguing with those who think Cherry is right.
The guy actually thinks that nationality determines how you play!
Not only that but he says the same old crap every segment and his sidekick/babysitter can only sit there and agree and then step in when he makes dumb comments like his women comments.

There’s also no point in arguing with those who think Cherry is wrong but you guys have been told that you’re special for so long that you believe it. Look, it’s hockey. Political correctness is not improving the sport but it allows people who are no better than Cherry to feel superior for no other reason than their opinion. At least, Cherry supports worthy charities, what do you guys do? Whinge and cringe at possible heresy? Oh noes!

I guess I heard it different Thomas, but to me sounded like he was making a comment as it pertains to a persons sexuality. Essentially like he was calling Alfredsson gay, that is how it came across to me.

I am not a very politically correct person, but Alfie has shown enough to me that he is a tough competitor and does not deserve nor warrant that kind of commentary from a supposed expert, regardless of how the beret in his hair looked.

Yesterday, when somebody announced this signing, Timo and the usual suspects all started whining about another smurf being added to the team (6’1″, 192 lb – but I suspect he may be heavier now). I pointed out that MN won the best defenceman award for the Swedish Elite League as a 22 year old this year and perhaps we should at least let him pick a jersey number before deciding he was a complete waste of skin.

So yeah, maybe I should have used that sarcarm font (Helvetica Sarcasmica perhaps).

In all fairness, 6’1″ 195lbs is not big for an NHL D, and the award he won was not for best Dman, but best SWEDISH Dman in the league. Someone posted the names of all the other winners of the same award, and I have never heard of any of them.

For myself, I reserve judgment until I see him play, but I can understand the concerns of others based on the Habs’ current D make-up and whether or not Nygren improves it.

– I suspect he’s bigger than that. I looked at prospects information on him and they reported the same weight for him right after Montreal drafted him. Since most players get heavier at his age, I think the info may be out of date. If he’s put on 15 lb (which is not unreasonable) he’d be playing at around 210 which is a good size.

– I’d also be interested in seeing the ages of the previous winners. It’s one thing if you’re winning the best d-man (and how many non-Swedish d-men are there in the SEL?) when you’re 28. But to win it at 22 would indicate to me that you are still on the upward curve and may have lots of room for improvement that may not have been the case with previous award winners.

It appears nabbing an “A”-list UFA is unlikely. Three UFA’s last off-season, and Prusty’s 2.5mill/yr was the largest sum. The year before, Erik Cole at 4.5mill/yr was the largest. Everyone KNOWS P.K. is nearing a largest-in-Habs-history contract. Trades are in the forecast. (Forgot to mention the Habs are very near the cap limit.)

Not as close as you’d think, we’ll have about 9 million once Kaberle is bought out.

If you are looking at the numbers on capgeek, keep in mind that those include the “Black Aces” who were called up for the playoffs and will be sent down next year. Its too many players to carry and each one you send down is anywhere from 800k – 1.5 million in cap relief.

I’m beginning to feel like it might be time to revisit the concept of referees “putting their whistles away” and “letting them play” come playoff time.

Suffice to say, NO team could be said to be built for the playoffs if every game is played that way. It’s insane. Interference all over the place, slashing, cross-checks to the face, copious instances of charging and boarding: no calls.

So, why even bother adhering to the so-called rules during the regular season if the playoffs are clearly an entirely different “sport” altogether? As it stands, the two main criteria for success would be a) an ability to deliver “statement-making” injuries to opposing players, and b) an ability to play hockey while injured or concussed. Goal-scoring and play-making abilities are recommended, but not required.

Difficult for moi to cheer for the Sens or for any other team for that matter because they did beat my team fair and square and also let`s be honest they do not stand a chance against the Pens.

I admit that they deserve to be where they and in the playoffs you never know…But the Pens are stacked with stars and weapons.
I really could not care less about the team being canadian or not unless it`s the habs of course…

Michael from Calgary had a post at the end of the last thread that expressed sentiments from the heart. Glad I didn’t miss it. And now, back to our regular programming.

Neat synopsis of 2005, the Crosby draft, in terms of it’s production of three all-star goalies. I want to add, the Kings picked up Anze Kopitar in the first round at around the eleventh pick; their second round pick didn’t pan out. Habs got Price, then Ben Maxwell in the second round. Methinks the Kings did not resort to tanking as a championship-winning tactic, just good and perhaps lucky drafting, and then two monster trades. Don’t forget they traded stud defenceman Jack Johnson to obtain a floundering Jeff Carter, and this trade was done after the earlier Mike Richards trade. At that time, Johnson would have been a higher-rated defenceman than P.K. Subban, which of course is no longer the case, when discussing the legitimate Norris winner.

You have to be lucky in athe draft. 2005 the Habs were destined to take Brule. Everyone expected it just like in 2009 when we took Leblanc. Kopitar would have been next and he was going to the Blue Jackets.. Who would you rather have Brule or Price. They were the only 2 choices Montreal were going to make.

Everyone is talking about trading to get bigger. I think our team should just give the young guys a chance to develop and grow. We have some very good D coming up the pipeline. If a good decent trade comes along then do it but not at the cost of the farm…..

That’s one way to go and might be the right one. But if that’s the route you decide to go you may as well acknowledge that this team won’t have a chance at the Stanley Cup until the time when your lineup has balance and depth. That won’t happen this coming season and it won’t be the case the year after that.

And with that in mind you should probably trade Plekanec, Gorges, Markov, Gionta and Moen over the next two years.

If your window isn’t open now and won’t be in the next couple of years and you aren’t willing to create one, get yourself some young players and draft picks and send the veterans to teams that will give them a chance to win a Cup.

Don’t like the Senators, don’t want them to win. Didn’t mind the Gyrba hit at all last night, enjoyed seeing Neil going to the room, disappointed to see him return. Would get a chuckle out of Cooke dropping Karlsson at centre ice in the Kanata Dome, don’t really care for the Ottawa Senators.

Man, you are a bitter, angry old man, were you like this when you were a youth playing sports? No sporstmanship?
Come on, chill out, it’s a game in today’s world played by overpaid athletes who really don’t care what you or I think unless we put green paper in their wallets or pockets.

Tired of neanderthals running/ruining the NHL. Neanderthals like MacLean who wants his team to injure the other team’s players. Eff him.
-EDIT- I’d love to see him attacked like that and see if he’s grown up enough to take it.

No way will I buy into the last Canadian team BS and cheer for the Senaturds. There are so many Canadians on every team that it really doesn’t matter who you cheer for. Once its won the cup will go to many more players home cities in Canada than anywhere else. (Unless Ottawa wins and the Cup ends up in Sweden for a month )

My offseason wish list is the same as everyone elses…Clarkson …but I would target Regehr. I would also get a fighter but he would be a special occasion guy….fiorst game vs OTtawa, games against Bruins, etc. The following year I may target another player of that mindset and I think you are ready to go. Regehr is the type of guy the Habs could use and Clarkson is the type of guy everyone can use.

I think you have to tread very carefully with both players you mentioned.

On Regehr. He has very much looked like he’s on his last legs going on about two years now.

And with Clarkson, that’s a guy who can score and be that dirty area guy. But he’s about to cash in for the first time and it becomes very easy to mail it in after getting that pay day.

I’d far rather get a guy like Stalberg from Chicago. He’s a better fit with the Habs and though he doesn’t fight he plays a very hard nosed game and brings excellent speed.

There’s more risk involved with Clarkson in the sense that if he doesn’t continue to score you’re left with another Travis Moen. So I suppose that if Bergevin can move Moen that’s a risk I would really endorse but if he can’t I wouldn’t be rolling the dice on a player who could become average in a real hurry.

Stu Cowan: Canadiens need to get bigger and tougher if they want to win their first Stanley Cup since 1993. They could use a few more big forwards like former Hab Sergio Momesso, who is now the team’s colour commentator on TSN Radio 690.

The Habs could also use another enforcer like Chris Nilan, who could drop the gloves and also play hockey.

**Keep up the good work Stu.

****************
“It’s frightening to contemplate how this undersized team would fare in a seven-game series against St. Louis, L.A. or Chicago..”

I wouldn’t do that trade. But I suspect it is probably still too little on the Habs end to make the Canucks give up those two guys, who are both signed long-term. It would also require that the Habs send out Tomas Plekanec and possibly Brian Gionta for younger players to make the salaries fit. Even then, Montreal’s cap situation is a bit nasty and I don’t think it would work.

I’m just curious to see how many people immediately throw up when they see Brendan Gallagher in a potential trade.

Here’s a more reasonable question…is Brendan Gallagher at his peak value, or do you see him getting even better?

Another way of putting this is to ask whether Gallagher is more Theoren Fleury or Martin St. Louis or is he more Steve Sullivan or David Desharnais.

You think more like a GM then us tin headed folks but I do think I tend to over value our own players. My first reaction is I do not make that trade because Tinordi may very well turn into what you described we need. I kind of like Gallagher as well.

I see Gallagher as continuing the way he’s been playing, and improving.
The only challenge, which is what makes the sophomore season tough, is that opposition players will be ready for him now, and as we saw in the Ottawa series, he’ll become a shut-down target.

The Canucks would get bigger by acquiring our tallest and shortest players? Interesting. They’d certainly be younger. Personally, I couldn’t do any of those deals. I like Hamhuis but I like Tinordi & Gally more. I like Kesler too but not more than Eller, given Eller’s development.

As for the Gallagher question, I think it’s still too early to get a read on what his NHL ceiling really is. Axe me in a year.

Okay, now my turn. Plekanec to CHI straight up for Brent Seabrook. Yes or no? I think I know what I’d do but I think it’s a tough call.

Gallagher is there because he’s a Vancouver product. He’s well known from his junior career with the Giants, so he might carry a premium. Tinordi for Hamhuis already makes them younger and bigger, but there is no way that Gillis even contemplates that trade.

As for Plekanec for Seabrook, it is a non-starter. Chicago already has a better two-way centre than Plekanec in Jonathan Toews, and they also have a premier shut-down centre in Dave Bolland. Plekanec’s biggest attraction, his defensive play and penalty killing, is pretty much worthless in a trade with Chicago. I’d do it in a heartbeat, but the Black Hawks would wonder whether I discovered the Halfling weed, because my brain was clearly addled.

That’s an interesting evaluation of Hamhuis. I like him a lot and felt he was the diamond in the rough in Nashville but top five in the NHL and Dan Hamhuis don’t go together in the same sentence, certainly none I’ve ever seen.

The past couple of years, Hamhuis has been right there with Daniel Girardi, Zdeno Chara and Marc-Edourad Vlasic in playing some of the toughest defensive minutes of any defenceman in the NHL, and he’s done it well. He’s still able to give you 25-30 points per season, respectable numbers for an elite defensive defenceman.

How about a ham house for Hamhuis? No way would I trade Gallagher and Tinordi for him. I have yet to see Gallagher’s downside. He’s not 6’10” 280lb, but he plays harder than any other Hab, goes to the net, takes a pounding, and gets up quickly with a smile on his face. He draws penalties, and and and… Wouldn’t trade him for both Sedins. Gallagher’s got at least a decade of hockey in him, probably more, and I’d like to see him in the CH for all of them.

Not a big fan of Hamhuis, so there is no way I’d do either trade. I think Gallagher is going to have a long career as a Hab. You just don’t trade players like him, especially with the salary cap situation. He’s going to out produce his contract for quite a few years and that’s the key to building a Stanley Cup contender long term.

ps
Thought you had mentioned years earlier that you had a Naslund jersey as well?

I actually agree regarding Gallagher. You’ve got to use those cheap contracts to their fullest extent. I actually quite like Hamhuis and think he’d be a great partner for Subban. But the problem with guys that could play those 20+ minutes you expect for Subban’s pairing is that they are going to cost you an arm and a leg.

I used Hamhuis as an example because I think there is an “Open for Business” sign on Gillis’ door, and he’s declared what he wants (youth, size).

I did have a Naslund jersey, but it met its maker. Same with my old Hakan Loob jersey.

Some day, I will get around to personalizing my Swedish national team jersey. The store here didn’t have the right colours to do it properly. I’d also not mind getting a Danish national team jersey with Eller.

It was rumoured the Habs inquired about Dimitry Kulikov from the Panthers near the deadline. I’m not sure what it would take but if it were a reasonable ask that’s a player I’d add in a new york minute. He isn’t that twenty plus minute guy yet but he’s gonna be really soon in my opinion.

man, if Collberg and Nygren make the Habs in the next few years and Eller stays, you are going to be one happy fella.

Loved Naslund as well, might have to amend my favorites list,

Joining two converations, Bouwmeester’s value and availability will depend on whether the Blues are willing to increase their cap above the $52m they spent this year. If they are not, they have to sign 4 RFA’s who will cost them close to $16m and that might make them more willing to move JayBo.

The comparison was more that Desharnais had a great rookie season when there was no book on how to play him. We don’t know how Gallagher’s career will unfold.

As for the heart thing, I think it is a joke to say that Desharnais doesn’t play with heart. Desharnais plays a different position, but he’s still the most likely Habs centre to skate into the dirty areas in the offensive zone. He has plenty of heart, he’s just not the right guy for Montreal and their roster make-up.

I routinely see Desharnais getting knocked over by defencemen in front of the net. Yes, he gets pushed around. But at least he’s there to get pushed around.

Plekanec is a perimeter player because that is where he is most effective. Eller, by and large, is also a perimeter centre.

So yes, I’ve watched this team. Desharnais struggled, and I don’t think he’s the right fit for this team. But he was lauded for his willingness to weave into the slot in his rookie year, and then had a bad sophomore year. I’d like to see him one more year before throwing him out with the bath-water. He wouldn’t be the first player to suffer a Sophomore Jinx, otherwise we wouldn’t have a term for it.

You and I discussed the adjustments Desharnais and Pacioretty would have to make earlier in the season. I felt Desharnais started moving the puck faster late in the year albeit inconsistently. He really needs to start using a one touch pass to give himself space in the offensive zone.

Anyhow. I agree that Desharnais was aggressive and for the most part fearless last year. But that wasn’t him this year. This year his hand eye coordination seemed off far too often and any entry into the offensive by him was quickly followed by a stop at the top of the circle more often than not.

I wouldn’t toss him away either but I would trade him if Eller doesn’t lose anything from that Gryba hit.

I’ve watched lots of Canucks games as a friend of mine is a fan, dating back to the Moose days. Not that I’m that much more qualified than anyone, but I wouldn’t touch anyone on that roster, not even Kesler, because he is too broken. I would much rather see how our prospects pan out, and deal with it, than trade them for Dan Hamhuis. Hamhuis is a good defender, being asked to do too much in Van on a squad with middling defensive talent.

Overpayment on our part. The Canucks are desperate for a centre, we could get Hamhuis for Eller and a pick and both teams would claim to win the trade. I still wouldn’t do it. Hamhuis also doesn’t answer our primary need, which is to get bigger on defense.

Gallagher was playing right before The Canucks eyes for several years as a junior Vancouver Giant but did not draft him kinda like Montreal not drafting a Quebecer or The Leafs not drafting a player from southern Ontario – Would trade Gallagher but not Tinordi big defense men are too hard to find. See Gallagher more of a Steve Sullivan/Ray Whitney or Theoren Fleury type player as Martin St Louis is a few levels above those listed as he is a hall of famer although Fleury might get lucky & make it to the hall with a lot of lobbying by people since he has cleaned up his life…..